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Anita Weinstein Speaks About her Activism at Indiana State University

Anita Weinstein recalls her outspoken advocacy for women as an undergraduate at Indiana State University.

Transcript

"The women's stuff started first. I was following my mother's track here, so I was going to be a teacher. Got accepted to teacher's college. Went to Indiana State University in Terre Haute. And, um, at that point in time, in the college dorms, um, they were segregated. Girls had curfew. Um, girls had to wear skirts. There was a dress code. Guys could do whatever they want. There weren't curfews for guys. So we started having caucuses on our floors, and I organized floor captains, and we started having discussion groups. And we'd say things like, 'This doesn't seem right!' And so we began a process of sit-ins in our dorm. I was president of my dorm in my junior year, and that's when, um, I suddenly found my voice. We managed to overturn the campus curfews. There was no longer a dress code, um. And, um, it was like then we went on to the issue of the war, and the demonstrations and the protests, and then the activism on the civil rights, uh, issue also, because there was a lot of discrimination of black kids on campus. I suddenly found a voice and became an orator for the peace movement on campus and the women's movement on campus."

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Anita Weinstein Speaks About her Activism at Indiana State University." (Viewed on December 9, 2016) <https://jwa.org/media/anita-weinstein-audio-media>.